8. Growing up, she practised playing the piano so much that she had to be told to stop.

9. Although a great athlete, she shied away from competitive sports because, her big brother says, "she hated losing".

10. Her father died of complications from multiple sclerosis when she was in her 20s.

11. Michelle attended only public schools while growing up in Chicago.

12. She was assigned Barack's mentor when he came to her Chicago firm for a summer job.

13. Her first impression of Barack wasn't great; after seeing a photo of him in the law firm directory she decided he had a big nose.

14. She declined Barack's first invitations to go out on a date, saying it would be inappropriate.

15. Her father and brother had always said you could tell a lot about someone's character on the court, so before agreeing to date Barack, she asked her brother to take him on on the basketball court.

16. Her university dissertation was entitled, "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community."

17. Barack proposed at a Chicago restaurant and the ring arrived on a tray with the dessert.

18. Their first dance at their wedding was to "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole.

19. Santita Jackson, Jesse Jackson's daughter and Michelle's high school classmate, sang at the wedding.

20. She works out "like a gladiator," according to friends.

21. She hates tights - too "painful."

22. At the Democratic National Convention in 2004, moments before her husband went on stage to give his speech, she said: "Just don't screw it up, buddy!"

23. She watches reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show.

24. For breakfast she likes fruit, eggs and bacon.

25. When she got to Princeton she said the tutors weren't teaching French correctly.

26. She refused to accompany her husband for walks in the cold Chicago winters.

27. She is the former associate dean at the University of Chicago.

28. On their first date Barack took her to see Do The Right Thing, a Spike Lee movie set in Harlem.

29. Her brother, Craig Robinson, is the basketball coach at Oregon State University.

30. At Princeton, Michelle majored in sociology. She got her law degree from Harvard.

31. She worked for Chicago's Mayor Daley in the city's office of planning and development.

32. She uses a webcam to stay in touch with Barack while separated.

33. She cooks shrimp linguini - her husband's fabvourite meal.

34. Michelle wrote her own stump speech during the campaign and delivered it without notes.

35. Michelle made Barack promise to quit smoking if he stood for president.

36. She plans not to have any more children.

37. She graduated from high school second in her year.

38. She cut back from her six-figure salary with the University of Chicago hospital system to help her husband with his campaign.

39. Michelle makes Barack do the dishes.

40. As vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Centre, Michelle supervised a five hundred per cent increase of volunteerism in the hospital.

41. She was on the board of six major organisations, including the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and Tree House Foods; and Vice President, Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals.

42. She routinely drew audiences of 1,000-plus supporters, even when she was campaigning on her own, on the trail

43. Her inauguration dress was designed by Cuban-American designer, Isabel Toledo. Her green gloves were J Crew and her shoes by Jimmy Choo.

44. After her husband's election to the US Senate, Michelle decided to stay in Chicago with their daughters instead of relocating to Washington, DC.

45. Her great-great-grandfather, Jim Robinson, was a slave in South Carolina before the Civil War.

46. Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama are the only First Ladies to receive master's degrees.

47. Less than 24 hours after the inaugural balls, replicas of Mrs Obama's dress were being drawn up – they will be available for sale within weeks, ranging in price from $99 to $400.

48. At 5 ft 11ins, she is tied with Eleanor Roosevelt for tallest First Lady.